This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. C. elegans is being developed as a comparative glycomics platforms for the analysis N-glycans (NLO) and O-glycans (OLO), glycolipid released glycans (GLO) and glycosaminoglycans (GAG). This is the first higher organism for which there is a complete description of its genome, anatomy and development. The structures of its major NLOs and OLOs, GLOs and GAGs have been documented and there are mutants available with genetic deficiencies in each major pathway where glycan structural differences and other associated phenotypes have been observed. Many of these differences have been demonstrated in our hands using conventional glycomics methods. We are working to improve on conventional methods by the development of quantitative comparative glycomics platforms for the analysis of free glycans and glycopeptides. Isotope-coded glycomics tags are being developed for the derivatization of glycans and glycopeptides for use in on and offline separation and analysis by mass spectrometry. The successful synthesis and application of the tags has now been demonstrated and we have recently published a comparative glycomics platform for chondroitin/dermatan sulfate. We are extending this research to the glycomics analysis of C. elegans for which there is considerable interest as a model in the study of metabolic diseases of glycosylation, ageing, development and host-pathogen interaction, all processes where glycosylation is important. In the next phase of the studies, we will concentrate on the glycolipids.